2016 Hino 300 Series 716 Hybrid Trade Ace REVIEW – A Bigger Load, And A Harder Worker Than A Twin-Cab Ute
ATTENTION ALL UTE BUYERS: IF YOU HAVE DOUBTS ABOUT A UTE MEETING YOUR LOAD-CARRYING NEEDS, HINO SUGGESTS ITS 300 SERIES 716 HYBRID HAS THE ANSWER.
It is true during our travels we have seen some of the mainstream ute models loaded up to their legal limits and we’ve wondered what those sort of loads were doing to fuel consumption.
Would a light truck, one which requires no special drivers’ licence, better serve trade buyers with a big job in mind, or with a gargantuan trailer to tow?
Vehicle Style: Light Truck
Price: $66,136.60/$72,186.60 as-tested (plus on-road costs)
Engine/trans: 4.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel plus AC Synchronous motor/5-spd automated manual
Fuel Economy Tested: 12.0 l/100km
OVERVIEW
In answering the challenge Hino points to a customer – a courier who does the Gippsland-Melbourne return run each day and since swapping from his often overloaded Toyota HiAce to a 300 Series 726 Hybrid light truck is reporting fuel savings approaching 50 percent.
While that figure is no doubt influenced by the predominantly freeway running involved, Hino goes further with claims of major fleet customers enjoying fuel savings better than 20 percent since switching to the hybrid.